


Sleeping Lightly

by Kamary



Series: The Jersey Devil [11]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Nightmares, Other, Years Later, polymory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5287763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamary/pseuds/Kamary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It didn’t happen too often anymore, but sometimes, Asriel would have bad dreams. Now, you all had bad dreams. You’d all experienced so many deaths. You’d been by Frisk’s side the whole time. You’d experienced more than Asriel knew. And yet, he had the worst dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Lightly

**Author's Note:**

> I already wrote the finale, but there's 3-4 more of these fics left between that one and this one.

You slept lightly. You had since you were a child. It was necessary in those days, when any day could be the day your parents found you and dragged you back to that house. Into the basement, where they tried to reform you. You were their shame that they hid away from the rest of the world. They would not admit that this little demon was their child, but you were their flesh and blood and that meant they had to fix you. Because red eyes and crying when a hand was raised could be cured by more hitting, of course.

You had been born a fussy child. You think that they thought this, combined with their red eyes made you a demon. But no, that just made you a child with a strange eye colour. You didn’t become a demon until later. You made yourself a demon. You turned the word that they used on you against them and made it your own.

But the skills your parents had forced you to learn came in handy sometimes. It didn’t happen too often anymore, but sometimes, Asriel would have bad dreams. Now, you all had bad dreams. You’d all experienced so many deaths. You’d been by Frisk’s side the whole time. You’d experienced more than Asriel knew. And yet, he had the worst dreams.

You suppose that being soulless was easier on you than him. You were born into a world without love. You never received any until you met him and his family. It wasn’t so hard for you to get used to feeling nothing but negative feelings. That was normal for you. Besides, you mostly slept until Frisk hooked you to their soul.

Asriel, though… Asriel knew nothing but love since they were born. The worst feelings they received was when other students pretended to be their friends but weren’t really (until he met you). To have suddenly lost that must have been terrible. You could never really understand that. Even being soulless, you never understood Asriel’s despair.

But not being able to understand something didn’t mean you couldn’t sympathize. You understood that it must have been horrible, you just couldn’t see the full depths of it. You think it was that lack of love that scarred him more than the fact that he’d died a few thousand times over. Maybe that’s why he got the nightmares instead of you and Frisk.

It used to be every day. Support and constant reassurances whittled every day down to a few times a month. It was because it only happened that often that you never saw it coming. It always started the same. You were always the first one up.

The tossing and turning woke you and you could hear the soft whining of Asriel. You slipped out of bed. Frisk always laid down between the two of you. It was how they liked it, being surrounded by the low, but Frisk wasn’t the one in need right now. You wouldn’t crawl over them, though. Slow, soft movement were needed today.

You went to Asriel’s other side. You had to be careful, placing your arms around him. Frisk slept like the dead, so it was unlikely they would notice what was going on. Asriel had to wake up on his own. You’d woken him before in the past and it normally ended with him burning the house down (and Frisk deciding to just reload). When he woke up on his own, he managed to suppress it.

Suddenly there was scrambling, panicking goat in your arms. You held him closer as he flailed. Soon, it died down. He was a lot stronger than you, but through determination, you had kept your grip on him. The sound of Frisk waking and Asriel panting filled the air. You were silent.

There was a routine for this, one that you had learned long ago. You knew how much time it took Frisk to wake up, how much time you had before Asriel had their help too. They were better at this than you, but you had the steps. The nightmares were always the same.

“What’s your name?” you asked in a calm, reassuring tone. Asriel’s wide eyes turned to you. It seemed like he was trying to focus.

“F-Flowey.” It was always this answer first. He never remembered right away.

“No, it’s not. Try to remember. What’s your real name? What’s the name that your parents gave you?”

This one took him a little longer. He searched his brain until the real answer came. Names were important. So much was connected to a name. Your name was your identity. It could be a chosen name, or a true name. When you forsake your name, you are forsaking your old self. This was why Asriel had named himself Flowey. This was why you couldn’t let him use that name again.

“I’m…” You waited for him to answer. “I’m Asriel?”

“Your full name.”

“Asriel, Asriel Dreemurr. Prince of all monsters.”

That seemed to ground him more in reality, but there was a lot to do yet. Frisk was almost awake, so you would hurry this next part.

“And what’s my name?”

“You’re Chara Dreemurr.” He always got this part right away, but the next part confused him. “You’re my best friend.”

“What else am I?”

He was once again perplexed, but then that information too came flooding back. As did the fact that you had been together for a good five years now. “You’re my datefriend. We’ve been living together for several years, with the human…?”

“If you really think they’re still human, yeah, that would work. Now, what’s their name?” You mwaited the few moments it took him to piece that together.

“Frisk Dreemurr.”

“And what are you?” This was the second most important question, but it was answered differently every time. Sometimes he said ‘alive’, or the worst days he said ‘a flower’. Today he chose something different.

“Scared.” Well, that was self-explanatory, but you gave him a tighter hug for it. You felt the bed shift and realized Frisk was getting up. They gave a gasp of surprise (they would later drag their nails across their forehead as their way of punishing themselves, like you didn’t notice the little red marks) and horror when they realized they hadn’t notice Asriel having a nightmare when you managed to.

The two of you wrapped the goat up close between your bodies. He was shuddering still, but this would help. It was the most important part. To feel your heat and touch. As a flower, he felt nothing, in every way possible. He couldn’t feel love and he couldn’t feel touch. It was one of the reason why the two of you cared about touch so much. Every day you reassured him that this wasn’t the dream, that he was really here.

“I’m sorry, Asriel,” Frisk muttered. “I’m sorry you have to be scared and have these nightmares. If I could have done more for you, reached out and smoothed away the scars… It would have been so easy.”

Frisk said strange things when they were both scared and sleepy. They nuzzled into Asriel’s shoulder. He would probably tell them later that there was nothing they could have done. One shouldn’t play with the memories of others.

“Why do you two put up with me?” he asked in a hushed tone. “I’m not worth it. You deserve to be with someone who isn’t broken…”

“We’re all broken here,” you reassured. “I can’t be near humans. Frisk doesn’t want to live. You have nightmares about being a flower. Are any of these things our fault? Fuck no. I know, it feels like they are, but they aren’t. I had shit parents, Frisk’s died too many times, and you… I did this to you.”

This pulls Asriel out of his funk. He almost flings you and Frisk off by springing up to grab your shoulders. “Don’t say that! You didn’t do this to me! You just… You just… Wanted to save everyone. I know I said that wasn’t what I wanted, and it would have gone badly, but that doesn’t make you bad, Chara. You didn’t do this to me. It was a whole lot of shit…”

Asriel flopped back, and you pushed yourself up onto his chest a bit. He was too big of a person. You and Frisk could probably use him as a bed if you wanted to. You nuzzled up against the kitten soft fur on his chin.

“I don’t get to blame myself, you don’t get to blame yourself.” You pushed yourself up to look him in the eyes. “Do you want to wake up, or do you want to go back to sleep? I can make us some tea, if you’d like.”

Asriel shakes his head. “I don’t think I can sleep yet, but I feel so drained… I don’t think I can move. Can we just… Lay here for a while? It’s nice like this…”

“Of course. But I can’t guarantee that everyone will be able to stay away though.” You reached over and ruffled Frisk’s hair. As soon as they had seen you’d mostly managed to calm Asriel down, they’d relaxed a lot. The pull of sleep was strong in this one. Most likely, they’d be back into dream land in a few minutes. There was some pride in that for you. If they would go back to sleep, it meant you were doing this right. You were taking care of your Asriel the proper way.

They gave a deep chuckle that shakes their chest. You smile back. You loved Asriel’s voice. It was so different from the flower he used to be. It was also different from the baby goat he used to be too. He’d grown so much over the years. You hadn’t grown as much. You’d grown inside. Asriel was already so mature, he didn’t need to grow the way that you did.

“I remember when I used to hold you, Char.” He’s thinking now. As long as his thoughts are off of the numbness of his body and soul, you are fine with that. “You used to get nightmares all the time. I used to ask you…”

“What’s your name?”

“No, your real name, the one my parents gave you when you became a part of our family.”

“What’s my name?”

“And what am I to you?”

You both give a little chuckle as you alternate between the questions he once asked you. Those days seem so long ago now. Back then you were more innocent, less trustful, but you believed in Asriel and he always managed to calm you when you had bad dreams. He’s never understand why, but he could empathize.

“It’s funny that I’m the one having nightmares now… And that you’re using my old techniques on me.” He absentmindedly stroked Frisk’s hair, getting sleepy murmurs from your other datefriend. “You’re getting good at this.”

“I had a good teacher.” You smile as sweetly as you can manage without making your creepy face. “It’s the least I can do for you. I don’t want to make Frisk handle the whole emotional burden of us. I… I know I rely on them too much. I need to make it up to them, and you, somehow.”

He shakes his head. “You really don’t have to. You aren’t doing as badly as you think. You’re pretty strong on your own. You just need some support sometimes. We all do.”

“Maybe.” You decide not to argue the point anymore. “But, I want to be able to help you. I owe the two of you so much. When Frisk went to the Core to save you, I was ready to disappear forever. I kind of wanted it. I just wanted to make sure you were safe first. But then… They save both of us. I realized then that I didn’t want to disappear. I’ve never felt more loved than when I’m with you two. Not even with your parents. I feel like… Even if I am a demon, you two don’t care.”

“We don’t…” That was the last sleepy murmur you heard from Frisk for the rest of the right.

“We love you how you are.” Asriel ruffled your hair as he had petted Frisk’s. “I think you’re just perfect, demon or not.”

You feel your heart flutter and you press your face to his chest. “I love you too, you big lump of fur.”

“I know. I love you, and Frisk. And I’m so glad that I can.”

“I’m glad you can too.”


End file.
